PNYX
WEEKLY
COMMENTARY,
RESEARCH,
March 23 2016
AND
REVIEW
ISSUE 20
CONTINUING on the theme of London
housing from last week’s issue, this week we
feature Tané Kinch's report from the Kill the
Housing Bill demonstration last Sunday,
March 16. Tané discusses the proposals of
the Bill and the effects it will have on all
citizens of London, not just those who are
most in need, as well as speculating on types
of resistance, from both the people, and local
government. (Eds.)
KILL THE HOUSING BILL
Tané Kinch
LIKE a bad song on repeat, we hear the
words yet again that London is in a Housing
Crisis. Growing larger, unwavering, the issue
envelops a shocking array of problems, from
gentrification, to rising rents, to moneyed
developments and regeneration projects,
and now to the slashing of social housing
across the city.
Exacerbating the problem, the current
Conservative Government has introduced
the Housing and Planning Bill proposal. The
Bill essentially boils down to an aggressive
reduction in social housing, with key
proposals that will affect almost all sectors of
residents across London (compare the fact
that in 1989, a third of London’s residents
lived in social properties, when today that
figure is 16%). Local councils will be forced
to sell ‘high value’ properties when they
become vacant, drastically removing local
authority provision where it is vitally
needed, and costing the city 200,000
council homes. These cheaply-bought social
homes will pay for the Government’s
incentive of Starter Homes offering a 20%
discount off market value (which will rise
according to tax and market value increases
after 5 years regardless).
Alongside this, the Bill also proposes no
fixed-term tenancies for social renters, with a
limit of 2-5 years on contracts, causing the
displacement of residents beyond this
period, after which such properties will
become vacant and vulnerable to a forcible
sale. This deep insecurity comes as a
disheartening proposition for the many
social residents waiting on housing lists for a
similar length of time.
Additionally, the Government’s ‘Payto-Stay’ scheme means household incomes
over £30,000 (£40,000 in London) will be
forced to pay rents at market value, meaning
the Bill will push most sectors of residents
into the private market and create an
unattainable renting charge for most. This
policy also raises an equity issue in the fact
the Government charges more for those
earning a certain income, yet there is no
income limit to those purchasing homes
replacing social housing.
This Housing Bill is going to destroy the very
notion of social housing in this country and
in this city. - Simon for Architects for
Social Housing at the Kill the Housing Bill
march on Sunday 13 March, 2016
But from the somewhat bleak outlook of
the Housing Crisis and Housing Bill, the
Edited by Adolfo Del Valle & Oskar Johanson. Printed by Two Press, London for the Architectural Association / pnyx.aaschool.ac.uk / [email protected] © PNYX 2016
situation is far from hopeless. Following the
Kill the Housing Bill protest in January,
another took place on Sunday 13 March
2016. Consecutive marches gaining more
support and a wider following have helped
raise awareness of the harmful policies of the
Bill and proved the battle is far from lost.
Sunday’s march began at Lincoln’s Inn
Fields in Holborn. En masse and well-organised, the protesters were joined by councilors
and other public figures, united in their
belief that the Bill was too important not to
fight. Numerous stands lined the square
from supporting parties against the Bill,
promoting various aids for the issues that
have grown as a result of the Housing Crisis,
from housing provisions to homelessness issues that will be compounded if the Bill is
followed through by the Government.
Within the square, speakers from across the
board of London districts and groups spoke
vehemently about why the masses were
protesting for the opposition.
Marching on Westminster, the chants of
‘Who’s homes? Our homes! Who’s streets?
Our streets!’ and ‘Social Housing is a right!
Here to stay, here to fight!’ echoed through the
streets of London. On reaching Westminster
Bridge outside of the Houses of Parliament
many supporters sat down in protest.
What has remained starkly obvious
through the journey of the opposition, from
local council meetings to the march itself, are
the personal stories of how the Bill has and
will affect the people of London, from the
vulnerable, including the disabled and lower
income sector, to the more financially secure:
I am a housing worker in Camden, a Union
Rep there, and I provide a service to council
tenants in Camden, and if I wasn’t a
council tenant myself, I couldn’t afford to
live in a borough where I’m expected to
provide a service. And that’s true of postal
workers, of transport workers, of health
service workers, across the board.” - Liz
Weekly of Camden Unison, and a council
tenant of the borough.
I live on an estate where 2,000 people are
about to lose their homes. - Anon.
overheard on the megaphone.
As the Crisis filters its seemingly irrevocable way deeper into the inner-workings of
London, it undermines residents’ trust of
government. So it comes as a wild reassurance the strong and somewhat surprising
support of many local councils who also
oppose the Bill, having voiced their concerns
at both many a council meeting as well as
the march. For these councillors, the government is undermining their own local authority, who being closest to their constituents,
understand social housing provision as not a
desire but a genuine need.
Given that the Bill causes extreme
wariness and confusion, what does the
Government expect the outcome to be if it
retracts power from local authorities? Ideally,
with local councils opposing the Bill so
vocally, and with the support of its local
residents, the issue should be reasonably
tackled. However, the Government has not
yet disclosed the consequences to local
authorities if they refuse to sell their vacant
high-value properties. A protestor thought
they should oppose it anyway:
If it does become a law, I think it’s really
important that local councils, Labour
councils in particular, don’t implement this
act. They need to have a backbone. They
need to stand up for the people who voted
them in. Actually, that could be a real
movement across the country. Even if just
one local council said they won’t implement
it, other councils will come around to it. Liz Weekly
Speaking with fellow protesters, it
became clear that the march was not simply
an attempt to oppose the Bill or the Government, but an exercise in our right to protest,
that we can and we should, regardless of the
extent of its impact. When asked whether
the Government was listening, protesters
were defiant:
to approve proposals despite their wide
opposition by the people. It is with this
knowledge that society shouts regardless,
knowing that a city pushed to its dire
straights cannot and should not yield.
Support of all levels - from lobbying the
Lords to make sure they understand the
consequences (as this Bill can still be amended, especially at this stage), to campaigning,
to signing petitions, to acknowledgement of
the policies put forward by the Government
- will aid the cause aiming to protect the city
and its residents.
The reality of the Housing Crisis and the
Housing Bill means that in a very immediate
sense, many residents - including families,
young renters, disabled occupants - from
lower to higher income sectors, will be
directly affected. People will face
insurmountable rises in rents, some pushed
to homelessness, and many will have to
succumb to unfixed tenancies. For those in
opposition of the Bill, please discover more
about its policies, their effects, and how you
can join the fight (more details below).
Council housing and Housing Association
housing should be a right for everybody. We
all have a right to have warm, dry shelter,
and that’s why people are so angry about
this. - Liz Weekly
Tané Kinch, is a fourth year student in Diploma
Unit 14 at the AA. For more information on the
campaign against the bill, visit:
https://killthehousingbill.wordpress.com
Front and below: Protesters on Westminster
Bridge (photos by the author).
Probably not, but if there’s enough people
who come, it might have some kind of effect,
short term at least. I don’t think that just
protesting and doing demos is going to stop
the gentrification of London, but it can be
part of a bigger movement. It can bring
people together, I guess, hopefully give a
sense of not being alone in it. - Anon.,
speaking at the march
It’s irrelevant whether the Government don’t
care. [Protesting] is the way we change
[that]. It’s seen to have an effect in the past
and it’s important we make every effort
possible. Protests like these are kept
somewhat hidden. It should be headlining,
but instead you’re only made aware about it
when roads are closed for the protest itself. Nadia Sayed, 19, Socialist Worker’s Party
The Government has proven it is willing
Edited by Adolfo Del Valle & Oskar Johanson. Printed by Two Press, London for the Architectural Association / pnyx.aaschool.ac.uk / [email protected] © PNYX 2016